Cesar Ybarra joins the podcast this week to help us consider the upcoming midterms and specifically what is motivating Hispanics to get out and vote. We cover the economic and cultural issues that matter most to America’s largest minority group and how both Republicans and Democrats are prioritizing the voter base. Is it still about the economy?
Cesar Ybarra is the vice president of policy at FreedomWorks. He is responsible for managing legislative affairs, as well as the organization’s policy department. Prior to joining FreedomWorks, Cesar served as Campaign Manager and Legislative Director for Congressman Andy Biggs (R-AZ) and on the staff of former Congressman Matt Salmon (R-AZ). Cesar was born in Mexico and became a naturalized citizen after moving to Southern California.
TRANSCRIPT
Beverly Hallberg:
And welcome to She Thinks, a podcast where you’re allowed to think for yourself. I’m your host, Beverly Hallberg. And on today’s episode, we look to the upcoming midterms and discuss specifically what is motivating Hispanics to get out and vote. We’re going to cover the economic and cultural issues that matter most to America’s largest minority group, and how both Republicans and Democrats are prioritizing the voter base. Is it still about the economy?
Well, we have someone on to talk all about this. Cesar Ybarra is the Vice President of Policy at FreedomWorks. He is responsible for managing legislative affairs, as well as the organization’s policy department. Prior to joining FreedomWorks, Cesar served as a campaign manager and legislative director to Congressman Andy Biggs. He was born in Mexico and became a naturalized citizen after moving to Southern California. Cesar, a pleasure to have you on She Thinks today.
Cesar Ybarra:
Thanks, Beverly. Appreciate being on.
Beverly Hallberg:
Well, before we get into the voter question and midterms and the Hispanic vote, can you tell us a little bit about the work that FreedomWorks is doing, especially as we are approaching midterms? A lot of people are excited about this. So what is the work that you’ve been doing on the ground?
Cesar Ybarra:
Well, we like to joke that at FreedomWorks we’re a do-tank, not necessarily a think-tank. And what we do is we build, educate, and mobilize the largest network of grassroots activists in the country. So what we do is we build up teams across the country. One of the big projects that we have right now is what we’re calling Freedom Teams. These are our top activists that we’re organizing in 25 congressional districts across the country where we think Republicans are going to be able to flip Democratic seats into red seats.
And we’re doing this through educating them on messaging tactics, on how to read bills, on how to best influence their members to vote the right way, and just all of the above activism. And we think that’s going to continue building on the efforts that we’ve done at FreedomWorks for decades to just get concerned citizens engaged in the political and policy process.
So it’s a great organization. We engage with real grassroots, and it’s great to … a lot of people in the policy world think of their jobs as very nerdy or very wonky. But we actually get to go out into real America, talk to real people and go beyond the Beltway where a lot of other people don’t go.
Beverly Hallberg:
And we saw a lot of energy last November in Virginia, they had their governor’s race there. We saw people, especially parents, moms, and dads come out, speak at school board meetings, but also be very active in the election process and trying to get out the vote.
Have you seen in your work across the country, working with the grassroots, on the grassroots level, that you have seen people entering into political activism for the first time ever? That this isn’t something they would get involved with, but because we’ve seen so much disruption in our country due to COVID, due to current policies, are you finding that people are being more active?
Cesar Ybarra:
Absolutely. And you mentioned COVID, I think COVID was the big wake up moment for a lot of Americans who said, wait, I have to get a vaccine to get a job. I have to wear masks in places where I shouldn’t be wearing masks. Wait, you’re telling me Walmart can open up their businesses, but as a small business owner, I cannot operate and make money? I think those government restrictions really woke people up and realized that these policies were being driven by Democrat politicians. And then add on top of that, the second and third order effects that we’re seeing now with the supply chain crises, with the inflation crisis that every single American is facing. Then it’s sort of like the stars are aligning for a lot of voters in realizing that it’s Democrat politics. It’s big government policies that are really hurting our economy.
And this is across the board. This is not specific to Latino voters or to African American voters, I think every voter feels it. But more importantly, it’s the minority vote at large. Minority voters have traditionally been a reliable Democratic voting bloc, but with all these bad policies being highlighted in their day-to-day lives, now you’re starting to see more of them shift over to the right, whether they’re African Americans, Middle Eastern Americans, Hispanic Americans, Asians, I mean just all of the above. And you’re starting to see these trends.
So yeah, many, many people have always been concerned about politics, and now they’re starting to pay more attention. But Biden’s flaws and Democrat politicians’ flaws have given rise to a new wave and a new set of activists who are engaging for the first time. So even when there is bad stuff happening in the country, good things can come out of it. And that is more concerned citizens getting involved in the process.
Beverly Hallberg:
Well, let’s break it down on the issues that do matter most to minority voters. So when you’re dealing with African American community, when you’re dealing with the Latino community, do they automatically say the economy matters most? The same thing that matters to every other American is the fact that things cost too high, gas is too high. And work, maybe even though the wages have gone up, they do not match or outpace what we’re seeing in inflation.
Cesar Ybarra:
Exactly. I mean, you think about people who live … for example, my sister down in California. She drives 45 minutes to work every day. Now all of a sudden, driving those 45 minutes every day, now she’s making less money on her paycheck because she’s paying double for gas to get to her job, right? So yeah, I think the economy is obviously a big, big issue for Hispanics. And even if you look at … well, with the Hispanic Grassroots Alliance with FreedomWorks, we did a lot of substantive polling on the issues that Hispanics care about. And it showed that the inflation and safe communities was one of the top issues that they cared about, followed by … education. I’m sorry.
And even a poll today came out from Axios and it showed the same thing. That inflation ranks number two right now as top of mind issue, the first one being crime. Obviously we just came out of a horrible weekend where a lot of shootings happened, but it’s not only linked, in my opinion, to that, but also with the crime sprees that a lot of big cities have been being plagued by. In large part, because of woke district attorneys who are not enforcing the law and letting criminals out early.
Beverly Hallberg:
And this is where I think Democrats have … or progressives, I should say. Have often gotten things wrong, especially related to the crime issue. Is they talk about defunding the police. They’ve backtracked on that a little bit, because it does not poll well and crime got too high. But when you actually poll minority communities, specifically African American communities, 80% want more of a police force. When you go to minority communities, what the progressives are selling is not matching with what they want.
Cesar Ybarra:
Exactly. And that’s exactly right. When something goes wrong, when you’re in trouble, when you’re fearing for your life, or when there’s crime happening, you don’t call your shrink or your therapist to come and figure it out. You call the cops because generally, Americans trust cops to come there and address the problems. Now, are there shortfalls in policing practices, et cetera. We can have a debate about that. But largely speaking, to your point, the police need to have all of the resources available to be able to stop crime.
And it is incumbent upon not only mayors, but district attorneys to have the backs of police, right? Because the cops, all they do is put handcuffs on, send them to the district attorney’s office for prosecution. And that’s where it goes downhill. And also, those woke DAs are being supported by local mayors and county supervisors. So it defeats the purpose of having a strong police department, if you will.
Beverly Hallberg:
And in the mantra of defund the police, how politically damaging do you think that was? And of course, it wasn’t just a mantra. We saw some cities literally defund the police, and that is on top of police officers choosing to retire early. And also, recruiting is at an all-time low in most cities.
But what have you heard on the ground, especially minority communities, about defunding the police? What do they say specifically?
Cesar Ybarra:
Well, they want more police, right? And look at how the Democrats have treated border patrol agents and ICE officers throughout the past several years, right? You had AOC and the Squad come out and say, we need to defund border patrol. We need to fund ICE. And these are all of the agencies that are holding the line at the Southern border trying to protect our country, right? So when it’s no secret that Congresswoman Mayra Flores, who’s now … I think at this point, everyone has heard of her. She’s the Congresswoman that just flipped a Democrat seat in Southern Texas, in the Rio Grande Valley. And in large part, the Rio Grande Valley is ground zero for the illegality that is happening across Southern border.
So yes, the reason why she won was because her message was resonating with all these voters who are concerned about just the large crime that’s happening across the country. So the Democrats were not able to win that messaging after for years, they were on a campaign to defund the police. Well, there are no take-backsies here. These are the policies that you advocated for, you listened to your radical base. Now you get to pay the consequences at the ballot box.
Beverly Hallberg:
And I want to talk about the economic message. We still continue to hear from president Biden, that he thinks the economy is improving. And that he got a bad deal when he took over, and that he’s improved it so much since then. They’ve struggled to have, I think, an accurate and effective message on inflation.
On the grassroots, how is the narrative that the economy is great, how is that resonating with people?
Cesar Ybarra:
No one is buying it. Again, these people in DC think that whatever polling or talking points that they test all the time work. They don’t work. Because I bet if you or I go out and ask your family in the south, my family down in west, if I ask them if they feel that the economy’s getting better, they’re going to say, well, I’m employed, if that counts. But I’m still paying more for gas. I’m paying more for groceries. It’s simple math, at this point, right? You don’t need a super smart economist from an Ivy League school to tell you that big government policies have caused inflation.
So, no, I don’t think anybody believes Biden or Karine Jean-Pierre, the press secretary, when they say that the economy is booming. That is a lie. And politicians lie all the time. So at this point, no one should be surprised by what they’re saying. So I don’t think anybody buys it. Only Democrats inside the Beltway are the ones who believe their own lies.
Beverly Hallberg:
Well, I often like to say that talking points and developing effective talking points have to match with people’s reality. If you’re talking about something that people don’t deal with day-to-day, you can skew numbers, you can have some spin, but you can’t spin economic pain. You just can’t. But yet it’s been surprising that they continue to do it.
Cesar Ybarra:
[inaudible 00:11:13].
Beverly Hallberg:
Go ahead.
Cesar Ybarra:
And again, this is not a complex issue to message, right? All you need to do, for anyone listening, go out and when you hear Biden and say, and Karine Jean-Pierre say that the economy is good, go out and show that video to your Democrat friend. And ask him if this is true, when he or she is paying more for gas, for food, for groceries. Again, to your point, simple math.
Beverly Hallberg:
I want to talk a little bit about the border. So something you and I have in common is we both grew up in the state of California, which of course, is on the border of Mexico. And one of the things that I think is misunderstood about the Latino community is that many think that the Hispanics are for open borders. Yet when I grew up in a community that had many Hispanics, they wanted more laws, more law and order on the border because they did it here legally. They cared about the economy, they cared about some crime issues.
Tell us what you generally find within the Latino community, especially as we’re seeing what people are even saying is just an invasion happening at the border.
Cesar Ybarra:
What I will say first is, I think Hispanics in general … I don’t have any polling to cite this. But just growing up Hispanic in big Hispanic communities, I think … and this is beyond party lines. But I think generally, Hispanics sympathize with immigrants. Whether they came in legally or not, illegally or legally, they sympathize with them, right? They realize that generally speaking, these people are good. They mean well, they want to provide more for their family in the US. They want to provide more for their family back home. That’s an honorable thing. What’s not honorable is coming to the country illegally. But anyway, I think generally speaking, Hispanics sympathize with those folks.
Once we get beyond that, I think Hispanics also, they favor legal immigration, not illegal immigration, generally speaking. Because a lot of these people fled from countries who did not care about the rule of law. And I think what makes America unique … and this is the message that we spread throughout our Hispanic outreach. Is that America is a country founded on the rule of law. When we are not enforcing immigration laws and when we are not deporting people who should be deported because they came illegally, that makes a mockery of our immigration system. And it really undermines our institutions and the rule of law.
So I think when we’re talking about Hispanics, when we’re talking about the border, we need to say, there are laws in the books. If they are not enforced, we are no better than Venezuela. We are no better than Colombia. We are no better than Mexico, all countries who are very corrupt. So yes, I think when we talk is we can sympathize with the folks, but we need to talk about the importance of the rule of law. Not because we want to deport people, we want to do all these things, but it’s about protecting our institutions and our form of government. If we don’t enforce laws, what’s the point of even legislating?
Beverly Hallberg:
And let’s move to another issue that you said is important to the Latino community, and that is the issue of education. We have seen a lot of discussions about CRT, about woke ideology. When you speak to people, what do they say about this being instituted into curriculum?
Cesar Ybarra:
Well, I always like to point out that there was a great show on HBO, I think it was called “The Newsroom.” But I think at the top of the first scene, it shows one of the protagonists talking about how America’s not number one in reading, not number one in all [inaudible 00:14:43], where we’re ranked below all these other countries. But in reality in America, we think we’re number one at everything. Well, we’re not. So what I always like to say is, do you want your kids to be taught about STEM, or do you want them to be taught about gender ideology or about how racist America is? Or about how they need to be super sensitive in whether they use the right pronouns in talking to their peers or their teachers now, right?
So we need to be sure that when we’re talking about education with Hispanic voters, or just with any parent in general, right? All they want is the best for their kids. So this is why the parental rights movement has been such a big issue, even in Florida. Even with the Don’t Say Gay messaging that the Democrats put on the parental bill of rights bill that was super controversial, Hispanics really liked it. It’s a popular law. Once you read the bill … this is what always say, reading bills is national security. Because there’s a lot of misinformation out there. When you read the actual bill, the Don’t Say Gay law, it says nothing about saying gay or not. It just gives parents rights in how their kids are being educated, in getting access to curriculum and all these other things.
So yeah, education is big for them. And they want to make sure that their kids are being taught in the best manner as possible.
Beverly Hallberg:
And I want to take a moment to ask you, our listeners, a question. Are you a conservative woman? Do you feel problematic just for existing in today’s political landscape? Well, I have some info to share with you. Every Thursday morning on Problematic Women, Lauren Evans and Virginia Allen sort through the news to bring stories and interviews that are of particular interests to you, a problematic woman. That is, a woman whose opinions are often excluded or even mocked by those on the so-called pro-women left. Lauren and Virginia break down the news you care about in an upbeat and sharp witted way, so search for Problematic Women wherever you get your podcasts.
And Cesar, just to round out the conversation, we’ve talked about the economy, we’ve talked about crime, we’ve talked about education. Any other issues that are really top issues for minority communities?
Cesar Ybarra:
I just think the economy. I think for any conservative out there listening to this, I think the important thing here is I think the … it’s out there, right? The secret’s out there, that it’s Democrat policies. It’s the imposition of government on our lives that have caused all these things. That have caused distrust in our public health institutions. Distrust in our government-run education system. Distrust in our political leadership and how they spend our taxpayer money. All of these things, we have to let them know. If you’re displeased with the state of affairs, you are probably displeased with big, with Democrats and big-government Republicans. If you are a conservative woman, then you need to tell your liberal friends, whether they’re Hispanic or just any concerned citizen at all, that it’s Republicans who have their best interest at heart, and they need to rethink their political allegiance.
Because voters cannot continue to just go blindly and go vote for Democrats. If you’ve been voting Democrat all your life and are having doubts whether you’re … This is when you need to start digging in more into the issues. And trying to just be a more informed citizen of what’s true and what’s not. So that’s why I always say education, education. Working in DC, and I’m sure anybody who’s listening who works in DC, they probably get calls all the time from their friends, family members from across the country like, hey, is this true? Is this not true? This is our opportunity to continue educating and saying, well, this is the reality. This is happening because Congress, Democrats in Congress voted for these bills, therefore you’re paying more for X, Y, and Z. President Biden took all these actions against the oil and gas industry, well, these are the repercussions.
And you go down the list. You can talk about gun control, right? There’s a lot of people concerned about gun control. They passed a bipartisan gun control bill, it didn’t stop the 4th of July mass shooting. So we need to start getting real with our listeners and give the realities of the wishlist that Democrats are putting out. Because if you think that Congress is going to help you in your life, if you think politicians are powerful enough and smart enough to make your life better, you need to reconsider that. Because by default, government is not there to help. When government fails, freedom works.
Beverly Hallberg:
And let me just finish off the conversation. One final question for you. We recently celebrated America’s birthday, the 4th of July. We had the president of the United States, President of Joe Biden say disparaging things about this country. Talking about what was wrong with it … He did some positive things to say too. But especially on this special day, to bash the country as he did. And we’ve heard other progressive leaders do this, we’ve heard people in Hollywood do this.
How does that resonate? Especially with those who are first-generation immigrants who’ve come here, many of whom gave up so much to come to this great country. How do they receive that and perceive it?
Cesar Ybarra:
I don’t think they buy it. Again. I think this is Biden speaking to his base, really. Because I think any first-generation, second-generation, third-generation American is extremely thankful for being in this country. Whether you’re a citizen or not, having the ability to live and thrive in America, or even struggle in America, I think this is the best country to overcome your challenges and to be somebody. So America’s not a perfect country, we could talk about that. And I’ll do a shameless plug here of Adam Brandon just wrote a book with David Sokol called “America in Perspective.” And it talks about putting the American history in perspective.
Okay. We had slavery, there were different norms in old life in America. And we’ve overcome that through legislation, through civil rights laws, and all these things. So that’s what we need to be focused on, is keeping America in perspective and show that despite our flaws, we continue to strive to be better. And the funny thing is, a lot of Democrats want to impose laws that take us back to where we were in the beginning. A small example is now you’re seeing college campuses starting to segregate students by color so they can go and learn this and learn that. And that’s segregation, in my opinion.
So I think the more inclusive the country gets, the more problems Democrats are going to try to find in our institutions. And I think that’s where you’re starting to see now, whether it’s LGBTQIA2+ … I don’t know if there are any other letters there. Any of these things are just more rights that the government is trying to create. That’s why Democrat politicians, including the president, continue to speak ill of America, so they have something to fight for. So it’s sad, but hey, I became a citizen in 2014, and I can tell everybody that America’s the best country to grow up in. The best country, to be a citizen of. And despite their flaws, I’m going to be continue cheering for America.
Beverly Hallberg:
Well, we thank you for your message. And also for your work, we love the grassroots efforts across the country. We know FreedomWorks is doing so much with that. Cesar Ybarra, with FreedomWorks, thank you so much for joining us today.
Cesar Ybarra:
Thank you, Beverly.
Beverly Hallberg:
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